Corporate Crossings | Former Ontario Teacher’s senior exec Anshul Agarwal headed to PE firm Creador

Anshul Agarwal

Anshul Agarwal, who was earlier leading the Indian direct private equity business of top Canadian pension fund Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan Board (OTPPB) will soon start a new innings at South and South East Asia-focused private equity firm Creador, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.

“Anshul has moved on from OTPPB recently and will join the India office of Creador in a few days,” said one of the persons cited above.

A second person confirmed the above move adding that Agarwal would assume a senior, leadership role at Creador, which is headquartered in Malaysia and was founded by former ChrysCapital MD Brahmal Vasudevan.

Both the cited persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity. To be sure, Kabir Thakur is currently the senior managing director at the India office of Creador, according to the firm’s website.

Moneycontrol is awaiting an email response from Creador and OTPPB and could not elicit an immediate comment from both firms. This article will be updated when we hear from them. Agarwal was unavailable for comment.

Incidentally, Canadian investment major OTPPB had opened its India office last month and roped in veteran banker Keki Mistry as a senior advisor. In the recent past, the firm has announced investments in Sahyadri Hospitals and Mahindra Susten.

NEW DEAL SPEARHEAD AT CREADOR

According to his Linkedin profile, Agarwal, a chartered accountant and ISB Hyderabad alumnus, has more than 15 years of private equity and investment banking experience. Prior to his role at OTPPB where he spent one and a half years, he was a Director at homegrown private equity firm True North and lead and participated in deals across healthcare, tech and financial services during a stint of more than three years.

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Prior to True North, Anshul worked at Baring Private Equity Asia, where he focused on investment opportunities primarily in the tech, business and healthcare services space for around seven and a half years. He has also worked earlier at EY and Deloitte.

THE CREADOR STRATEGY

According to its website, Creador’s current portfolio includes some of the fastest-growing brands in Asia, in the retail, F&B, manufacturing, financial services, tech and healthcare industries. Other than Malaysia and India, the firm is present in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Spain. Since its inception in 2011, Creador has launched five funds which have attracted investors and partners, ranging from international fund managers, private pension funds, other private equity firms, government-linked bodies, to private wealth managers and individuals. It last raised $680 million when it launched Creador V in 2021, its website says.

In India, Creador has invested in firms like Sapphire Foods, Ujjivan Financial Services, Paras Healthcare, retail NBFC Kogta Financial, drug maker Corona Remedies (stake sold to ChrysCapital), packaging firm Shriji Polymers, healthcare equipment maker Accumax Lab and others.

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Note For Readers: Corporate Crossings is a series that puts the lens on important executive movements within companies and in the industry and captures the exits & new innings of members of India Inc, investment bankers, lawyers, Big 4 professionals, private equity investors & more